Q&A with author Ella Dove
What made you choose a girl with one leg as a subject for your first novel?
As an amputee myself, I feel very strongly about the need for disability representation in literature, particularly in children’s books. Very often, when I do school visits, the children have never had the chance to speak to an amputee before, and there is a real lack of understanding when it comes to disability generally. I want to normalise disabled characters and show that they too can be the heroes of stories. My aim is to inspire both disabled and non-disabled young people, to show them that challenges can be overcome and dreams can be reached, whoever you are.
Were you worried about the choice of subject in terms of getting published?
Not at all. If anything, it was the opposite. I felt hugely supported by my editor Anne Marie Ryan and by the Hachette Children’s team as a whole right from the start, because they all shared my belief that disability should be more widely depicted in children’s books. It’s still so difficult to find disabled protagonists in the middle grade space in publishing, and so I knew there was a gap there that needed filling – and as a disabled writer I had the experience and knowledge to do that.
What was your favourite scene to write in How to Roller-Skate with One Leg and why?
I have a couple. Firstly, the moment Maya realises she is able to rollerskate with a prosthetic leg. She’s with her friends Vita and Miles at the local roller disco, and she has this euphoric moment where it dawns on her that she’s doing it. It’s a reminder that she shouldn’t feel limited by her prosthetic leg, that disability is not inability. Secondly, and probably more fun is the scene where Maya goes with her mum to a guinea pig show. Maya’s mum breeds guinea pigs and they all have celebrity names, from Elton John and Mariah Carey to Maya’s favourite piggy, Harry Styles. Writing that scene took me back to when I was 11 and took my own pet guinea pig to a show in a local village hall – he won a rosette for ‘Best Newcomer’! Little did I know that that slightly surreal childhood memory would find its way into my writing one day…
What was the hardest scene for you to write, and why?
The prologue when Maya has her accident and is hit by a van was pretty tough to write – for the subject matter of course, but also ensuring it wasn’t too traumatic a start to the book for young readers. It was tricky to find the balance between hard hitting and gripping and too scary, but I hope I managed it.
Was there anything you wanted to write about that you didn’t include and why?
Not for this particular book, no, but I could write endlessly about Maya and her adventures! Luckily, I was contracted for two books and the sequel, How To Do Paris With One Leg, allowed me to have lots of fun taking Maya and her friends on a school trip to Paris. There’s even a trip to Disneyland – which was a joy to write.
What was the process of working with an editor for the first time and how did you deal with differences of opinion?
It was brilliant. As an author, you can sometimes become a bit lost in your characters’ world, which can lead to unnecessary dialogue, description or scenes that don’t move the plot along. I love creating characters, but I’m not so strong on plot, and so having Anne Marie’s expertise on hand was invaluable. We definitely work well as a team, and she was so supportive from the start when it came to bringing Maya’s world to life. She completely understood what I wanted to do and shared my vision for increased representation of disability in children’s publishing, so for that I’m very grateful. She even indulged my silly celebrity guinea pig names! The book would certainly not be what it is without her.
Q&A with editor Anne-Marie Ryan
What drew you to Ella’s writing when you first read it? Were you looking for own voices disability writing at the time?
Ella’s warm, funny and conversational voice appealed to me hugely. I was actively seeking to increase disability representation on our publishing programme, so I attended a panel discussion on disability in the workplace, on which Ella was a guest speaker. She was such an engaging, entertaining speaker that I immediately started wondering whether she could write for children. I read her semi-autobiographical adult novel, enjoyed it, and decided to approach her. Happily, Ella loved the idea of writing for kids as she does a lot of talks in schools.
How much research into Ella’s disability did you need to do before starting to work with her?
I had heard Ella tell the story of her accident and amputation on the panel I attended, and had listened to her TedX talk about it as well.
What, if any, adjustments did you have to make to your usual editing process to take account of Ella’s disability?
There weren’t any creative adjustments to be made, although I deferred to Ella’s expertise on the disability storyline due to her lived experience. Most of our meetings were online, but when we did meet in person I made sure that the venue was somewhere she could get to easily and was accessible. Accessibility was also a key factor is planning Ella’s promotional events for the book.
Was there anything in Ella’s novel that you advised her to edit out and why?
Maya’s parents are lovely, supportive characters, but in early drafts had a bit too much prominence – I asked Ella to focus on Maya’s friends, because friendships are so important to middle grade readers. While it was important to us to depict Maya’s disability realistically, we trimmed down a check-up scene at the prosthetics clinic because it had too much detail and slowed down the pace of the story.
What were the main things you worked on with Ella as her editor?
Because it was Ella’s first time writing for children, a lot of the editorial process was focused on ensuring that the story had kid-appeal. We wanted to balance out the hugely important message about disability with lots of relatable fun stuff – like hot chocolates with loads of whipped cream, guinea pigs named for pop stars and shopping for sparkly skirts! We worked hard on the ending– bringing all the strands of the story together in a satisfying way, and making Maya’s mean friend Sophie’s behaviour more forgivable.
Is there any advice you would give to aspiring disabled writers and how would you open children’s publishing to more of them?
I would give disabled writers the same advice I’d give any writer – read widely, work on your craft, stay aware of market trends, and tell stories you would have wanted to read as a child –the sort of stories would have made you feel seen.
Thanks to Dr Rebecca Butler of IBBY UK for supplying these questions and to Ella dn Anne-Marie for answering them.
ople. When I know that a book is igniting that pleasure and satisfaction in readers I feel completely satisfied with my job!
How to Roller-Skate with One Leg is published by Orchard Books, 9781408373859, £7.99 pbk
